UCL MSc Finance – worth it for IB / AM?
TL;DR: Engineer pivoting to finance. UCL MSc Finance offer (~£48k). Warwick MSc Management offer with 25% scholarship (~£23k). Exeter MSc Finance (~£20k). Is UCL worth the premium for IB/AM?
Background: First-class Civil Engineering from a non-target via a 4-year degree apprenticeship in the UK at a global engineering consultancy. Applied widely to graduate analyst roles this cycle but didn’t progress past online assessments/video interview stages, so considering a master’s to bridge into finance.
Rejected from LSE & Imperial MSc Finance. Offers from UCL MSc Finance, Warwick MSc Management (second choice offer after Finance), and Exeter MSc Finance. Waiting to hear back from Edinburgh and Bath.
Main questions:
- Is UCL MSc Finance target/semi-target enough to break into IB/AM with strong networking?
- Is UCL worth paying ~£25k more than alternatives?
- What other path could I follow if not a masters?
Any honest takes appreciated.
UCL and Warwick would be good enough for summer recruiting, but not FT recruiting. You have an interesting background, with a lot of engineering experience I assume.
That is enough for the summer recruiting, but you will be fucked if you aim for FT IB recruiting. No masters degree will compensate for the lack of IB experience
The course runs from September to September so I would have to aim for an off-cycle internship after finishing to then hopefully secure a full time role.
UCL + Engineering should get you some interviews. I am a big believer that what you study at uni ends up being beneficial, so would avoid non-finance MScs.
Most of what you study at uni is not useful unless your degree is Medicine, Pharmacy, Law etc
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